Div 1 - Mayo v Kerry, McHale Park, 20/02/2011 @ 2.30 pm

[muppet]

O'Sullivan was airborne, leading with the shoulder, when he collided with Hennelly. That is a free out straight away, regardless of what the keeper does afterwards.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Picture on inpho tells a lot - http://www.inpho.ie/cgi-bin/WebObjects/INPHO-Shop.woa/wa/p?p=O7H1kwyfHl6czn9R4RPdAOYMXQDcNKU6sF20TYBOInM.a

O'Sullivan had driven into Hennelly before Hennelly wrapped him. But a hard decision to make in real time in fairness to Maurice Deegan.

Moysider and Saffronandblue I don't see the reason for so much negativity. It is February, we played against Kerry with five of our six forwards playing below their best, for whatever reason and still should have won. Sure, there's work to be done. But I'm not so sure about referencing this defeat against other games. We had a very impressive back six today. We worked very hard off the ball I felt too - think you're way off the mark there saffron. And it is only February. If we had Alan Freeman today, Enda Varley or were willing to blood Cillian O'Connor, we probably would have won. Both teams were understrength. We might know Kerry's strongest team. We can hardly say to know ours yet.

[Maguire01]

Picture on inpho tells a lot - http://www.inpho.ie/cgi-bin/WebObjects/INPHO-Shop.woa/wa/p?p=O7H1kwyfHl6czn9R4RPdAOYMXQDcNKU6sF20TYBOInM.a

O'Sullivan had driven into Hennelly before Hennelly wrapped him. But a hard decision to make in real time in fairness to Maurice Deegan.

That photo tells you nothing; the keeper has both arms around O'Sullivan at that stage.

[muppet]

Picture on inpho tells a lot - http://www.inpho.ie/cgi-bin/WebObjects/INPHO-Shop.woa/wa/p?p=O7H1kwyfHl6czn9R4RPdAOYMXQDcNKU6sF20TYBOInM.a

O'Sullivan had driven into Hennelly before Hennelly wrapped him. But a hard decision to make in real time in fairness to Maurice Deegan.

That photo tells you nothing; the keeper has both arms around O'Sullivan at that stage.

Is that all you see in that photo?

[Zulu]

O'Sullivan was protecting the ball, he turned away from Hennelly to prevent him from getting the ball. There was no way he was charging. I thought that Hennelly was a bit unlucky in that he was caught between two movements, if you like, but it was probably a penalty all things considered.

[SLIGONIAN]

I am the only one totally confused as to how on earth the mayolads are trying to question the clearest penalty decision i have ever seen...

[ross4life]

It's a fine tackle by Hennelly if it were rugby & Maurice Deegan clearly tells the Mayo players that he was pulled down.

[mannix]

penalty or not, somebody mentioned that Mayo did not score for the first 19 minutes or the last 19 minutes. That alone would give you heartburn.

[An Gaeilgoir]

I hate to say it, but there will be no All Ireland win with this team imo.  A full strength Kerry team could beat us by 20 points if we met them in a final.  Our lads try hard in fairness but me might as well accept that we are just not good enough.

Declan O' Sullivan, Thomas O' Se and Galvin were missing today and Gooch and Donaghy were hardly killing themselves.  I'm depressed.  I thought we might be bridging the gap but it looks like we are heading no where fast at any rate.......I hope I'm wrong.

Was at the game and i have to agree with Saffron and blue, we didn't score for the first 19 minutes of the game, what these lads need is time and lots of it, we are starting all over again from a very low base- definitely division 2 standard. We have "average to good" raw intercounty players who are still learning their trade along with the manager, it is good that we are getting this exposure in Division 1 as we wont in my opinion be getting it next year. There has to be a few changes, to the starting 15 before the championship starts, but booking Citywest in late August wont be one of our problems this year! Kerry were miles better yesterday and playing in second gear for most of the game.

[AbbeySider]

I hate to say it, but there will be no All Ireland win with this team imo.  A full strength Kerry team could beat us by 20 points if we met them in a final.  Our lads try hard in fairness but me might as well accept that we are just not good enough.

Declan O' Sullivan, Thomas O' Se and Galvin were missing today and Gooch and Donaghy were hardly killing themselves.  I'm depressed.  I thought we might be bridging the gap but it looks like we are heading no where fast at any rate.......I hope I'm wrong.

Was at the game and i have to agree with Saffron and blue, we didn't score for the first 19 minutes of the game, what these lads need is time and lots of it, we are starting all over again from a very low base- definitely division 2 standard. We have "average to good" raw intercounty players who are still learning their trade along with the manager, it is good that we are getting this exposure in Division 1 as we wont in my opinion be getting it next year. There has to be a few changes, to the starting 15 before the championship starts, but booking Citywest in late August wont be one of our problems this year! Kerry were miles better yesterday and playing in second gear for most of the game.

Come off the pot lads, things are not that bad  
Thats serious negative stuff coming from you both, its only February.
If it wasnt for a terrible referee and a very dubious the penalty Mayo looked like they could have won the game in the second half, and looked in control for periods. For all of Kerrys possession in the first half they failed to put us away and it could have been a very different outcome if we took our chances. The penalty decision was a joke; O Suillivan jumped into Hennelly, effectively diving for the penalty. It should have been a free out and I would have booked him for the big leaping dive, it looked cat. As someone mentioned even Kerry radio said it was no penalty. What did you expect Hennelly to do? I he hadnt done what he did he would have gotten a shoulder or elbow to the face. 

saffronandblue - You talking about a full strength Kerry team when we were depleted about 6 possible starters last Sunday. A new young team like what played last Sunday did well and were not exactly hammered off the pitch. We dont even know our best 15 yet and may not find out for a long time yet as there was some good performances again yesterday.

Gaeilgoir saying we are starting off from a very low base - division 2 standard is a little rough too. We drew with the All Ireland finalists so far in the league and should take Galway, Monaghan and maybe Armagh to stay safe.

Keep the faith 

[RedandGreenSniper]

I hate to say it, but there will be no All Ireland win with this team imo.  A full strength Kerry team could beat us by 20 points if we met them in a final.  Our lads try hard in fairness but me might as well accept that we are just not good enough.

Declan O' Sullivan, Thomas O' Se and Galvin were missing today and Gooch and Donaghy were hardly killing themselves.  I'm depressed.  I thought we might be bridging the gap but it looks like we are heading no where fast at any rate.......I hope I'm wrong.

Was at the game and i have to agree with Saffron and blue, we didn't score for the first 19 minutes of the game, what these lads need is time and lots of it, we are starting all over again from a very low base- definitely division 2 standard. We have "average to good" raw intercounty players who are still learning their trade along with the manager, it is good that we are getting this exposure in Division 1 as we wont in my opinion be getting it next year. There has to be a few changes, to the starting 15 before the championship starts, but booking Citywest in late August wont be one of our problems this year! Kerry were miles better yesterday and playing in second gear for most of the game.

Come off the pot lads, things are not that bad  
Thats serious negative stuff coming from you both, its only February.
If it wasnt for a terrible referee and a very dubious the penalty Mayo looked like they could have won the game in the second half, and looked in control for periods. For all of Kerrys possession in the first half they failed to put us away and it could have been a very different outcome if we took our chances. The penalty decision was a joke; O Suillivan jumped into Hennelly, effectively diving for the penalty. It should have been a free out and I would have booked him for the big leaping dive, it looked cat. As someone mentioned even Kerry radio said it was no penalty. What did you expect Hennelly to do? I he hadnt done what he did he would have gotten a shoulder or elbow to the face. 

saffronandblue - You talking about a full strength Kerry team when we were depleted about 6 possible starters last Sunday. A new young team like what played last Sunday did well and were not exactly hammered off the pitch. We dont even know our best 15 yet and may not find out for a long time yet as there was some good performances again yesterday.

Gaeilgoir saying we are starting off from a very low base - division 2 standard is a little rough too. We drew with the All Ireland finalists so far in the league and should take Galway, Monaghan and maybe Armagh to stay safe.

Keep the faith 

+1

[An Gaeilgoir]

I hate to say it, but there will be no All Ireland win with this team imo.  A full strength Kerry team could beat us by 20 points if we met them in a final.  Our lads try hard in fairness but me might as well accept that we are just not good enough.

Declan O' Sullivan, Thomas O' Se and Galvin were missing today and Gooch and Donaghy were hardly killing themselves.  I'm depressed.  I thought we might be bridging the gap but it looks like we are heading no where fast at any rate.......I hope I'm wrong.

Was at the game and i have to agree with Saffron and blue, we didn't score for the first 19 minutes of the game, what these lads need is time and lots of it, we are starting all over again from a very low base- definitely division 2 standard. We have "average to good" raw intercounty players who are still learning their trade along with the manager, it is good that we are getting this exposure in Division 1 as we wont in my opinion be getting it next year. There has to be a few changes, to the starting 15 before the championship starts, but booking Citywest in late August wont be one of our problems this year! Kerry were miles better yesterday and playing in second gear for most of the game.

Come off the pot lads, things are not that bad  
Thats serious negative stuff coming from you both, its only February.
If it wasnt for a terrible referee and a very dubious the penalty Mayo looked like they could have won the game in the second half, and looked in control for periods. For all of Kerrys possession in the first half they failed to put us away and it could have been a very different outcome if we took our chances. The penalty decision was a joke; O Suillivan jumped into Hennelly, effectively diving for the penalty. It should have been a free out and I would have booked him for the big leaping dive, it looked cat. As someone mentioned even Kerry radio said it was no penalty. What did you expect Hennelly to do? I he hadnt done what he did he would have gotten a shoulder or elbow to the face. 

saffronandblue - You talking about a full strength Kerry team when we were depleted about 6 possible starters last Sunday. A new young team like what played last Sunday did well and were not exactly hammered off the pitch. We dont even know our best 15 yet and may not find out for a long time yet as there was some good performances again yesterday.

Gaeilgoir saying we are starting off from a very low base - division 2 standard is a little rough too. We drew with the All Ireland finalists so far in the league and should take Galway, Monaghan and maybe Armagh to stay safe.

Keep the faith 

i am keeping the faith and i feel that this team has potential along with the manager to establish itself in the next 2-3 years. I didn't mean to be so pessimistic, however a bit of realism should be added into the mix.

[Barney]

Having been out of the country for the past 3 and a bit weeks I haven't got into the full swing of the football season until this weekend. I must say I have watched a video of the Down game and was in Castlebar yesterday and am a little worried already.

It is fair to say we are starting at a very low base and we have a rookie manager after the departure of John "Straight Talking Straight Answers" O'M! I am delighted to see some new lads get a run - the two Feeneys did well yesterday although I do think that Alan is a more realistic long-term prospect, Jason Gibbons has shown promising but limited signs in midfield, Aidan Campbell is one that should be given the time to develop.

I do think Kerry didn't even get into second gear yesterday and it is the performance of the backs when Down really played that has to be of concern. We are probably not as bad as that in defence, but in no way are we as good as we looked yesterday, and we did get some lucky touches. What disappoints is that there is no real sign of a game plan. It is the same old Mayo football that has failed time and time again. The work ethic is ok but was lacking compared to the Kerry backs. We are still being left exposed on counter-attacks, and the tracking back is a token effort at times.

Some of the handling was atrocious yesterday. I know conditions were very poor but the Kerry lads were able to get over that better than us. Much comes down to concentration as much as to ability.

I have mixed views about whether the penalty decision was right but the goalie did make it very easy for the ref to make the call. But we too often rely on excuses and love our moral victories. These players have all too often relied on excuses and come out in newspapers to say we will do better next time. If we are ever to get anywhere we need to adopt the Vince Lombardi attitude - "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser" and realise that "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will". Last year it was the manager to blame and anybody listening to players all through the season knew that was their problem. They now have a new regieme and should have no easy fall-back - they have a lot to answer for after the humiliation of last Summer.

And it is galling that one our best players has now decided to go on holidays for the next 3/4 weeks after playing the first game. What type of commitment is that? What type of example is it? You either want to play for the country team or you want to be going on holidays. Nobody would begrudge a lad a winter away but when that has been had and you line up in the early games you are letting down your team mates by fecking off in the middle of an important league.

Galway next week is a big one now if we are going to survive.

[AbbeySider]

I would take more positives than negatives from the game on Sunday. There was some good defensive displays, especially from McGloughlin and Cunniffe, both of whom would have been in line for my man of the match.

Some may thing that Kerry had an extra gear but at the same time our defence did Ok. 
Hennelly did well and looked confident with anything that came to him. The accuracy of the kickouts need to improve but I think he has the edge on O Malley and could even knock Clarke out if he done well for the next few league games.

Cunniffe held the Gooch scoreless from play and was exceptionally tight throughout so I have no complaints. Alan Feeney may have been lucky with the way bounced for him a few times and played on the edge, giving away the odd free to prevent goal chances. All in all he was solid enough and couldnt have done much more. I thought Richie was beaten in the first half, with Geaney kicking a couple of points off him and almost got a goal. There was times when he was 10-15 yards off his man so he needs to tighten up.

McLoughlin worked his socks off all day and had a great game, kicking a point for good measure. Gardiner hadnt a bad game either. After the first 10 minutes I was very worried about Ger Cafferkey, as O Suillivan seemed to have the better of him. However, Cafferkey settled better after a while and came into it very well and they had a good battle for the rest of the day. We should be seeing him getting more time to settle into that role in the next few games.

Whereas we probably lost the midfield battle, including kickouts and the brake count, both midfielders didnt give up and got through a lot of work and ball. A few passes didnt work out for Gibbons and McGarrity lost possession a few times but I think we will be sticking with them for now as they are a good dynamic. McGarrity got forward when he needed to and took on a few shots, and Gibbons tackled and did the spade work and kept Scanlon at bay. Some of Hennelly's kickouts may not have given McGarrity or Gibbons an advantage but that may come.

Upfront things didnt go as well for us. Campbell did ok, worked hard, tackled back and stood up to the challenge kicking two from play. He was firery enough and didnt show any signs of bowing to the Kerry lads. Andy was a bit quieter and maybe that was because of Brosnan keeping him at bay. Dillon was poor, looked tired or something and should have been substituted. Maybe the Sigerson game for NUIG took it out of himself and Gardnier as they both looked flat, Dillon especially was only a shadow of what he normally is.

I dont think I was particularly happy with any of the full forward line. What does Aidan O Shea have to do to win a free? He is battered, pulled and dragged all over the place and never gets the benefit of the doubt as he is so big referees will not whistle for the free. I simply cant get over Ronalldson and Kilcoyne not being more alert for the breaks. FFS 90% of breaks will fall in the area in front of a guy its breaking off but Killer and Ronnie were not trying to arrive there and stood back while the corner backs mopped up. At the other end, any ball that went near Donaughy had Gooch, Geaney and sometimes O Suillivan all arriving and getting on to the breaking ball and manufacturing scores. Our corner forwards need to wake up a bit and stop expecting AOS to do everything.

Of the guys that came on, Duggy got a nice score and was unlucky to get injured, would liked to have seen more of him. Parsons didnt add much to midfield but then again he hadnt much time to make an impression.

All all, more positives than negatives IMO.

[Kerry Mike]

We were lucky to get out with a win yesterday, it was a very scrappy game lots of silly mistakes by both teams and my big bug bear is lads picking the ball off the ground, we get pinged for it all the time it is stupid stuff, and not too difficult to get the foot under a rolling ball, also the handpassing is again causing silly frees being given away.

The penalty was a lucky break for us and was a borderline call but some days you get the rub of the whistle and Sheehan stuck it away well and you sensed that knocked the life out of Mayo.

Brian Sheehan looked impressive for the short while he was on and his late point was a great score given the conditions and he seems to be flying at the moments which given a long season with his club hopefully bodes well for him and us this summer.

I thought Marc O'Se had an excellent game too and made a couple of great interceptions and bursts out of the backs.
Aidan O'Mahony made some good interceptions too and though Padraig Reidy was quite he will need more game time
Great to see Killian Young back getting a run again as he has been out injured for months and with Tomas OSe due back in and Tom 'Sullivan due to make a decision on his future shortly the back positions will be hotting up. Also Tommy Griffin has yet to make an appearance this year.

Eoin Brosnan did well in the Centre and will be worth looking at again though I was concerned about midfield as McGarritty seemed to win alot of ball and neither Moran, Scanlon or Maher did a huge amount of damage, though given the conditions the amount of ball spilled or dropped was understandable.

David Geaney started well as did the Gooch but both faded long before the end and Darren O'Sullivan should have buried a chance in the first half before "winning" his team the penalty, overall he was stuck in a lot stuff and Donnacha Walsh supported him well. Thought the game seemed to pass Gary O'Driscoll by in his first outing and Donaghy never really dominated the high ball but Mayo did well in their full back line to clear the dangers.

Still a win is vital and keeps us out of the drop zone for now though with tough games against Armagh, Down and Dublin and others coming up we will need to step it up again, the likes of Declan O'Sullivan, Paul Galvin, Tomas O'Se all need to start getting back in harness but still it heartening to see the likes of Shane Enright, Jonathan Lyne and the Geaneys getting plenty of game time.